With a couple of strong debuts from The Hamilton Mixtape and "Awaken, My Love!" by Childish Gambino, the top 5 looks a bit different this week. The Weeknd, who had an incredibly strong debut with Starboy, and Bruno Mars who is riding the success of 24K Magic join them in the top 10. John Legend has a solid debut right outside the top 10, as Drake, Rae Sremmurd, the Suicide Squad soundtrack, Mariah Carey, and Rihanna round out our list by maintaining position in the top 30.
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1) Various Artists — The Hamilton Mixtape: Everyone from Chance the Rapper to Ashanti and Ja Rule lent their hand to The Hamilton Mixtape, and it earns the #1 spot on the charts this week because of it. The star-studded compilation moves 186,995 TAEU (total album equivalent units) and 68,967 sales during its debut week on the Billboard charts.
2) The Weeknd — Starboy: After a short stint at #1, The Weeknd retreats to the #2 spot with Starboy, his third studio full-length. The album made a huge splash during its debut last week, earning a spot on the Hot 100 with each of the record's 18 songs. This time around, the album clocks 150,756 TAEU and 54,356 sales.
3) Childish Gambino — "Awaken, My Love!": Big up Childish with a strong debut! Coming it at #5 with his funky new record Awaken, My Love! is this renaissance man who can just keep surprising us with his talents. Who would have guessed that 2016 would see him starting an awesome new TV show and releasing a non-rap album? At any rate, this does 101,338 TAEU and 71,860 sales in its first week on the charts.
4) Bruno Mars — 24K Magic: Down to #6 from #4 is Bruno Mars with his latest 24K Magic, which utilizes the pop singer's signature funky sound for a quick 33-minute LP. For his third week on the charts, Bruno slings 58,144 TAEU and 37,705 sales.
5) John Legend — Darkness & Light: Debuting at #14 is John Legend, whose fifth studio album Darkness & Light released on December 2. The album features Chance the Rapper, Miguel, and Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, helping it move 38,928 TAEU and 26,309 sales for its first week.
6) Drake – VIEWS: It seems as thought Drake's VIEWS is finally running out of steam, landing at the #17 spot this week after holding down #12 last week, and spending most of the year in #1 or close to it. The long album clocks 29,840 TAEU and 5,416 sales during this, its 32nd week on the charts.
7) Rae Sremmurd — SremmLife 2: After sneaking into the top 5 with the help of the #MannequinChallenge, the Rae Sremmurd boys are back in the 20s, coming in at #22 with their aptly titled sophomore record SremmLife 2. The album does 24,929 TAEU and 2,069 sales this week.
8) Various Artists – Suicide Squad: The Album: The Suicide Squad record is having an impressive run thanks to contributions from Lil Wayne, Skrillex, Rick Ross, and Wiz Khalifa. It comes in at #25 this week, sliding back from #18 last week, and putting 21,390 TAEU and 9,578 sales on the board.
9) Mariah Carey — Merry Christmas: Mariah Carey is synonymous with Christmas-related recordings, and this is exactly why. Her Merry Christmas album is currently surging on the charts, despite being released in 1994. This week, the record moves 19,533 TAEU and 9,340 sales. Happy holidays everyone!
10) Rihanna – ANTI: Rihanna's eighth LP ANTI has had a great year, and continues to stick around the top portion of the Billboard 200. In the #29 position this week, the record clocks 19,529 TAEU and 3,585.
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The Rae Sremmurd boys aren't budging from the top spot, as the "Black Beatles" holds it down at #1 yet again this week. Right behind them is The Weeknd with his Daft Punk-assisted cut "Starboy," with Bruno Mars close by at #4 with "24K Magic," the title track from his latest. Kendrick Lamar is at #7, but not for his own song, for his feature on Maroon 5's "Don't Wanna Know." Drake is at the #11 spot with "Fake Love," while D.R.A.M.'s "Broccoli" seems to have peaked at #5 as it slips from #10 to #12 this week. Elsewhere on the Hot 100 you'll see Nicki Minaj's "Black Barbies" debuting at #65 and J. Cole's "False Prophets" debuting at #93.
The Weeknd still has 14 songs from Starboy on the Hot 100.
